• VPRA released the final Telegraph Road Pedestrian Alternative Concept Development Report which outlines alternatives for short-term enhancements to the existing Telegraph Road pedestrian route, and identifies options for more substantial investments in pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure to further enhance the comfort and safety of this connection in the longer term. 

Alexandria's Rail Partners

Alexandria coordinates with a number of rail partners on projects in and around the City including:

• Virginia Passenger Rail Authority (VPRA)- manages all administrative and fiduciary responsibilities for the Commonwealth’s state-supported Amtrak Virginia passenger rail service, including the current eight daily roundtrips originating in Roanoke, Norfolk, Newport News, and Richmond. VPRA also provides funding to Virginia Railway Express (VRE).
• Virginia Railway Express (VRE)- provides commuter rail service from the Northern Virginia suburbs to Alexandria, Crystal City and downtown Washington, D.C., along the I-66 and I-95 corridors. Services began in 1992, and now, VRE operates 30 trains from 19 stations and carry, on average, 20,000 passengers daily. 
• Amtrak- connects America in safer, greener and healthier ways. With 21,000 route miles in 46 states, the District of Columbia and three Canadian provinces, Amtrak operates more than 300 trains each day — at speeds up to 150 mph — to more than 500 destinations. Amtrak is the operator of choice for state-supported corridor services in 17 states and for four commuter rail agencies.
• CSX- together with its subsidiaries based in Jacksonville, Fla., is one of the nation's leading transportation suppliers. The company’s rail and intermodal businesses provide rail-based transportation services including traditional rail service and the transport of intermodal containers and trailers. Overall, the CSX Transportation network encompasses about 20,000 route miles of track in 26 states, the District of Columbia and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. 
• Norfolk Southern- has over 19,500 route miles across 22 states and DC, connecting 800 industrial sites, 175 warehouses, and 43 ports. 

The Alexandria Fourth Track project will design and construct 6.0 miles of a fourth railroad track and related infrastructure between Arlington, VA, and Alexandria, VA. The goal of the project is to increase rail capacity in preparation for the DC2RVA high speed rail. The project will connect the southern end of the Long Bridge Project and will construct one additional track within existing railroad right-of-way to accommodate more railroad capacity between Northern Virginia and the District of Columbia. 

Currently, on the southern end of the project area, west of Alexandria Station, three tracks from the Virginia Railway Express (VRE) Fredericksburg Line and two tracks from the VRE Manassas Line converge into three tracks, causing a bottleneck and delays for passenger and freight trains. The existing tracks will be shifted, and a new fourth track will be added, all within the existing right-of-way. The results will separate freight and passenger trains and add capacity and efficiency traveling north into Arlington and Washington, DC. The design also accommodates station and platform improvements planned by VRE for the Alexandria and Crystal City passenger stations

As part of this project, VPRA is redesigning the rail bridges over King Street and Commonwealth Avenue in Old Town. For project specific questions, please e-mail contactus@vpra.virginia.gov. 

The Virginia Passenger Rail Authority (VPRA), in collaboration with CSX, will design and construct replacement rail bridges over King Street and Commonwealth Avenue as part of the Fourth Track Project in Alexandria. The intent is to improve safety and reduce maintenance for these structures. 

Current Stage: Final engineering design is complete. The construction timeline is in development. For project specific questions, please e-mail, contactus@vpra.virginia.gov.

Alexandria Union Station serves both VRE and Amtrak passengers, with connection to Metrorail and bus service directly adjacent to the rail corridor. It's located at the convergence of VRE's Manassas Line and Fredericksburg Line, and is one of VRE's busiest stations. 

Station improvements include: 

• Enhancements of existing ADA-compliant access between the two platforms (raising the western platform to improve passenger safety and comfort during boarding and alighting)
• Rehabilitating the pedestrian tunnel 
• Modifying and extending the east platform at the station to accommodate eight car trains and enable the platform to service two trains simultaneously, from a track on each side of the platform
• Installing elevators from the tunnel to platform level 
• Replacement of railroad bridges over King Street and Commonwealth Avenue. (see above King and Commonwealth Bridge project)

This Alexandria Station Improvements project falls within the limits of VPRA’s Alexandria Fourth Track Project and is immediately adjacent to the VPRA King Street and Commonwealth Avenue Bridge Replacement Project. 

The stakeholders involve include: CSXT, VPRA, City of Alexandria, Amtrak, WMATA, and various utility owners. 

For project specific questions, contact gotrains@vre.org. 
 

The Long Bridge Project will construct a new, two-track railroad bridge next to the existing Long Bridge which spans across the Potomac River from Virginia to Washington, DC, creating a four-track corridor. A new bike-pedestrian bridge will also be constructed as part of the mitigation that will span the Potomac River and George Washington Memorial Parkway, connecting Long Bridge Park directly to East and West Potomac Parks. The project’s purpose is to increase railroad capacity between Virginia and the District of Columbia while alleviating the rail congestion caused by the existing two-track Long Bridge.

This project is in its design and construction phase which is scheduled to last until 2030.